Rafa Benitez is desperate for further reinforcements to return from injury in order to help Newcastle United perform what would now be the most miraculous of relegation escapes.

Most notably, captain Fabricio Coloccini could be fit to start at Southampton and bolster a defence who conceded three sloppy goals during defeat at Carrow Road.

Martin Olsson’s cruel 93rd-minute winner for Norwich City on Saturday condemned the Magpies to a ninth successive away loss in all competitions, and saw them slip six points shy of safety with just seven games remaining.

Victory at Saint Mary’s is a must if United are to retain any hope of beating the drop, and if Coloccini does return he could help shore up Newcastle’s backline.

“To have more players is always important because then you have more competition between them but they have to be fit; they have to be in the best condition possible for the fight that we have at the moment,” Benitez said.

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“So he (Coloccini) will be training (this week) and we’ll see how he feels and then we’ll decide but the good thing is that if they are coming back then at least we have that competition and that can only be good for the team.”

Though Newcastle have hardly made St James’ Park the cliched ‘fortress’ this term, it is their abysmal away form which has dragged them into a potentially terminal position.

United have picked up just two wins, and a meagre seven points, on the road this season.

So just how is Benitez going to turn that around, and arrest a slide of eight successive league away defeats by the time they visit Southampton?

“We have one week and as I said before players are coming back so we will have to see how they are and just keep training,” the Spaniard added.

“You cannot change everything every week because then the players will be thinking: ‘what’s going on?’

“So you have to analyse games and if you do something good then you try and stick with these things and that will give them the confidence and then it will be easier to win the games.”

Norwich are now six points ahead of the Magpies with a far superior goal-difference following Saturday’s relegation clash.

Benitez admitted his players were down in the dressing room after the game, but he is adamant he can restore some self-belief before the trip to the south coast.

He continued: “When you have just lost a game like this one, you have to be a little bit down, but my job is to give them the confidence, enough confidence for the next games and to lift them because I think the reaction was quite positive in the second half.

“Obviously we can’t wait for another reaction, we have to start the games in the right way and try to score goals and win games, but the one thing that we’ll take as a positive is the reaction of the team, scoring two goals away from home and see if we can keep this way of playing for the next seven games.”

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Will Fabricio Coloccini's return make a difference for Newcastle United?